The £20million clothing company owned by departing Plymouth Argyle chairman James Brent has gone into administration – and been bought by another fashion firm with some of the stores closing.

Mr Brent, who has just announced he is stepping down as Argyle chairman in October 2018, has relinquished control of his Saltrock Surfwear leisurewear and accessories retail brand after it faced retail “challenges”.

The company, which was trading well up to late 2016 and forming a bedrock for Mr Brent’s Natatomisam ltd holding company, has been sold to Crew Clothing Co Group via a prepack administration, an insolvency procedure by which a company sells all or some assets to a buyer before appointing an administrator.

In this case, David Pike and Mark Orton, from accountancy giant KPMG, were appointed joint administrators on Friday, August 17, 2018, and immediately sold the business and assets to a subsidiary of the Crew Clothing Co Group.

James Brent has been Argyle chairman since he rescued the club out of administration in October 2012 (Image: Penny Cross)

Following the sale, 25 stores and 162 employees were transferred and retained – but five stores will close and 29 redundancies have been made.

The stores that will close have not been named yet, but Plymouth's was closed on Monday morning, August 20, though staff were inside it.

The firm’s website includes a list of all 30 outlets including those in Plymouth's Old Town Street, Exeter, Looe, Falmouth, St Ives, Brixham, Torquay, Croyde and other locations in the wider South West.

A strategic report for the year ended December 31, 2016, revealed Natatomisam grew turnover by 7.7 per cent and gross profit by 6.1 per cent to £16.6million.

However, after tax it made a loss of £400,000, from a profit of £1.2million in 2015.

Read More

While turnover rose across the firm’s hotels and leisure interests, it was Saltrock that proved the biggest money generator with turnover jumping from £19million to £20.5million.

But the retail sector, and particularly fashion retail, has been hit by a combination of factors including internet competition, rising prices, stalled wages and cost hikes.

And in late 2016, Mr Brent said Saltrock, which only sells in the UK market, imports yarn and some man-made materials from abroad, making it vulnerable to currency fluctuations and it was seeing costs rise following the pound’s post-Brexit fall in value.

The Saltrock store in Exeter (Image: Google)

Mr Brent, who is now departing as chairman of Saltrock, said: “We are proud of the growth we’ve achieved over the last eight years, but now is the time for Crew to drive the business forward.

“We wish them and the employees every success in the future. Saltrock is a very strong brand with a great story and team behind it.

“We very much look forward to seeing them realise the potential of the business and are pleased that they are retaining the significant majority of staff-at head office, in the distribution centre and stores.”

Read More

He added: “The sale via ‘pre pack’ was required to provide the business with as much stability as possible by securing a new owner and finance for the business. This deal will see over 160 jobs transfer to the new owners.

“Sadly a number of redundancies will be made and over the coming days, our priority is to ensure all employees who have been affected receive the information and support they need in order to claim monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office.”

Saltrock was started in the 1980s by two brothers who printed their own surf-inspired designs on t-shirts in Cornwall, naming the business after their favourite surf break in their native South Africa.

Mr Brent became a director in 2010 and his Natatomisam empire became the dominant shareholder.

The Saltrock store in Plymouth (Image: Google)

Mr Brent’s exit from Saltrock follows hot on the heels of his decision to leave Argyle and the sale of a chunk of his Plymouth Pavilions site.

Mr Brent will be replaced at the football club by David Felwick at the end of October after vice-chairman Simon Hallett became the club's new majority shareholder.

In early 2018 Mr Brent sold the car park at the Pavilions, which he also owns, to Vastint, an international real estate organisation, which is planning to put a hotel on it.

Crew Clothing was started in 1993 by Alistair Parker-Swift in Salcombe, and it opened in London two years later.

It now has 78 outlets around the UK including in Exeter, Totnes, Tavistock, St Ives, Rock, Padstow, and Dartmouth.

Read More

James Brent in the news

David Butler, Crew Clothing’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to announce we have acquired Saltrock the well-established surfwear retailer with a strong South West presence and in doing so pleased to have been able to protect the future of the brand and more importantly a significant number of the current employees of the business.

“Through this transaction we have now added Saltrock to our growing and successful business portfolio.

“It presents us with a huge opportunity and allows us to maximise our supply chain and operations giving great potential to the Saltrock brand.

“We welcome their employees to our team and we aim to make the transition as smooth as possible for them.”

David Pike, joint administrator and partner at KPMG, said: “Following recent challenges the business has faced and in line with current experience across the retail sector, the company’s management team has worked hard to try to turn the business round and formulate a rescue bid.”

The deal team was led by KPMG LLP and involved Temple Bright LLP, Osborne Clarke LLP and Addleshaw Goddard LLP.

Argyle Grandstand - show me the money

Redeveloping both the Pavilions and Plymouth Argyle sites will cost a whopping £100million – but club chairman James Brent, who is standing down in October 2018, said he has got enough cash to at least get the projects started.

Mr Brent said about £5m needed to redevelop the main grandstand at Argyle’s Home Park stadium has already been provided by club director Simon Hallett.

And he said his own “family resources” are robust enough to deliver a new ice rink at Higher Home Park.

The remainder of a £30million development, on the car park and other land sandwiched by the football ground and the Life Centre, would need to be raised.

This would ideally be done by signing up agreements with hotel, restaurant and bar chains.

Meanwhile, at the Pavilions Mr Brent is seeking investors willing to partner with his firms to redevelop the site.

Mr Brent explained how Mr Hallett and his wife had given the football club a £4.1million, 30-year loan, and bought £900,000 in shares to make a total investment of £5m for a revamped grandstand with conference and banquet facilities attached.

Want more news?

To keep up to date with Plymouth Live's latest news, follow us on Facebook here and Twitter here, or visit our homepage at www.plymouthlive.com

For Devon news, find Devon Live's Facebook page here, or their Twitter page here, or visit their homepage at www.devonlive.com